Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen and U.S. Representative Annie Kuster have issued a letter to the federal Food and Drug Administration about proposed food safety rules. The New Hampshire lawmakers are concerned about unintended consequences resulting from the 2011 Food Safety and Modernization Act.

Along with three other lawmakers from CT, NY and MO, Shaheen and Kuster led a bipartisan group of 75 legislators in requesting that the FDA engage further with the public before implementing two new food safety rules.

Representatives from the US Food and Drug Administration are traveling around the country this summer speaking with farmers about the Food Safety Modernization Act – which is the biggest reform of food safety laws the country has seen in more than 70 years.

The FDA held a public hearing on their proposed rules at Dartmouth College. The farmers we met there are very concerned about the consequences the proposed rules could have on New England agriculture.